American Psycho

by Bret Easton Ellis
This entry was created for the Fall 2014 semester by Melanie Shugert.
Why Banned:

Banning History:

American Psycho was originally supposed to be published by Simon & Schuster in the US but following a media storm about its ‘sadistic contents’ just three months before its release, they dropped it. Sonny Mehta at Vintage Books picked it up and both he and Ellis received death threats when it was published. The scenes are graphic enough to be banned from a lot of libraries and its release protested by Gloria Steinem for violence against women and the National Organization of Women (NOW) rallied members to boycott the entire 1991 Random House catalog. Although several national bookstore chains and numerous booksellers around the world refused to sell the book, more than 100,000 copies were sold in the U.S.A. Right after its publication. When American Psycho became a bestseller, The New York Times announced that it would be removing it from its bestseller lists because of the book’s content. This book was so controversial that it was banned entirely in Queensland, Australia. Australian national censorship legislation still classifies American Psycho as ‘R18’ , meaning it can be sold only to over-18s, and must be shrink-wrapped. In Germany, the book was deemed "harmful to minors", and its sales and marketing were severely restricted from 1995 to 2000. In New Zealand, the book cannot be sold or lent in libraries to those under 18 years of age and it is generally sold shrink wrapped in bookstores. In Canada, the book generated renewed controversy during the trial of Paul Bernardo after it was discovered that Bernardo owned a copy of the book and had "read it as his bible.”

Author Bio

Bret Easton Ellis was born on March 7, 1964 in Los Angeles California. His father was a wealthy property developer, and was also an abusive alcoholic who had influenced Ellis's writing. His upbringing was privileged and went on to attend Bennington College, on which he often bases fictitious colleges in his writing. While in New York, Ellis decided to capture the 80's and spent time hanging out with stock-brokers in preparation for American Psycho. It was his third and most successful novel and was drafted three times on a typewriter before Ellis submitted the completed book. He noticed a lot of young wall street guys scurrying around New York and was inspired to write a book about 'hollow money'. In preparation for the novel, Ellis researched by hanging out with wealthy stock brokers at work and after hours at clubs and bars. While he was tailing them he noticed that they didn't talk much about their jobs, but instead spent their time name dropping, discussing the hottest clubs and restaurants that they got into while spending vast sums of money. He also called in some favors and gained access to FBI reports and criminology case files on murderers and serial killers so that he could make the portions of the novel where the murders took place more believable. He read about concentration camp atrocities and the Manson family murders for the dialogue and the description of the murder scenes. The only response Ellis had to his novel 's reception around the world was "I think it's adorable, I think it's cute. I love it"

Discussion Questions

1. What role does compassion play in society?

2. Does wealth give you the ability to do whatever you want? Does wealth make our lives better? How do we use wealth to make our lives better or worse?

3. The ending of the book is very ambiguous. Could Patrick Bateman be insane? If he is insane how much of the story is actually true and how reliable is he as a narrator?

4. What is the purpose of the explicit violence? How would the story change if the violence was toned down or eliminated from the story?

5. How is sex used in the story? How do we use sex to connect/disconnect with those around us? How does Patrick Bateman use sex?